From a nation of 1.4 billion, only 110 will be competing for medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Probability of being in that contingent: 0.00000008%.
Among these 1.4 billion people, about 2 million medical aspirants appear for the NEET examinations annually, with only the top 20,000 securing a seat at Faridkot’s Guru Gobind Singh Medical College (per some websites).
Probability of being in that contingent: 0.01%.
Probability of being in both contingents: 0.00000000000008%.
This is precisely where Sift Kaur Samra stands, in that rarefied 0.00000000000008%.
How NEET Led to the Resurgence of Sift’s Shooting Career
Till a few years ago, Sift – the 22-year-old shooter from Faridkot who will be representing India at the Olympics – did not foresee a career in shooting.
She started shooting in the ninth standard, and we will get to the origins later in this story, but in 2021, she was more inclined towards becoming a doctor than a shooter. She had appeared for NEET, and secured a score good enough to enrol in the Guru Gobind Singh Medical College’s MBBS course.
Sift narrates the story during a conversation with The Quint:
I started preparing for NEET during COVID. I had a lot of free time. For two entire years, I did not pick up my rifle. I even forgot where I had kept it! So I decided to utilise my time studying.Sift Kaur Samra
Sift eventually left her MBBS program due to the college's rigid attendance policies. Instead, she pursued a Bachelor of Physical Education and Sports from Guru Nanak Dev University. Intriguingly though, she credits NEET for her resurgence in shooting:
NEET actually helped me quite a lot in my shooting career. I had nationals just after cracking it, but by then, I had decided that it would be my last nationals. I was below 15 in the national rankings at that time, and I did not want to continue shooting any further. I was already thinking and planning to start a new life at the medical college. So in that particular nationals, I was very calm and relaxed because in my mind, I knew that it was inconsequential. But I ended up creating a national record, and that made me realise that I can be really good only if I don’t let tension get the better of me.Sift Kaur Samra
The Shooting Origins
Sift’s journey into shooting began in ninth grade, sparked by curiosity rather than ambition.
I had never dreamt of pursuing sports as a career option, but I loved sports as a kid. In school, my favourite period was the sports period. I was in the ninth standard when I got introduced to shooting. I enjoyed it, but even then, I did not have any clue that I would have a career in it. And here we are now.Sift Kaur Samra
Her first coach was her mother’s friend, Sukhraj.
My father was informed about a shooting range in Faridkot, where one of his friends had enrolled his son. It was only a shotgun range, not for pistol and rifle shooters. But I wanted to see what shooting is all about, so I decided to give the place a visit. It seemed interesting, so my mother called her friend Sukhraj, who is a shooter too, and asked her to train me. She became my first coach, gave me my first rifle, and taught me about all the different events in shooting.Sift Kaur Samra
Whilst the sport did seem “interesting” from afar, as a spectator, Sift lost her interest almost immediately after stepping into a shooter’s shoes, primarily owing to the inactivity. Fortunately for the nation, she won a medal before deciding it was too boring a sport to pursue.
Oh, it was so boring! She told me I just have to stand in one place and shoot, that’s all. I found it super boring during the initial days. It was only in 2016-17 when I won my first state medal that I started to like the sport.Sift Kaur Samra
Breaking the World Record at the Asian Games
Following state and national medals, Sift clinched four Junior World Cup medals in 2022. In that same year, she won her maiden World Cup medal, at Changwon.
The pinnacle came a year later at the Hangzhou Asian Games, where Sift won individual gold, team silver, and also broke the world record.
She recalls:
I wanted to be the first Indian to win an individual gold. So usually, you will see the 50m rifle three positions event happening after the other shooting events have concluded. I don’t know why, but it was scheduled to be the first event at the Asian Games. All the time I kept on praying ‘Isse pehle kisika individual gold na aaye’ (Let no one win an individual gold before me). That’s exactly what happened. More than the medal though, I would say creating a world record was special. I never thought that I would be able to break a world record.Sift Kaur Samra
Focus Is on the Process, Not on the Expectations
Many publications had predicted Sift to be India’s biggest medal hope in shooting, prior to the commencement of the Olympics. A couple of medals – courtesy of Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh – have only raised expectations.
But Sift’s undivided focus remains on the process, undeterred by expectations.
My focus is on the process – on the things that I have worked on. I can’t say what will happen on the day of the event. I don’t know what the weather conditions will be, or how my mindset will be on that particular day. So instead of thinking about medals, I concentrate on the process.Sift Kaur Samra
As her event nears, Sift has shifted focus from the technical aspects to the mental side.
This is a mental game. I am focusing on my mental state more than my shooting. It is important to stay happy. At this stage, every shooter knows how to shoot 10s. It is all about how you conduct yourself and how your mental state is.Sift Kaur Samra
A Simple Motto – Jab Tak Rifle Chalti Hai, Tab Tak Chala Lo
Most importantly, she is keeping herself grounded, with no room whatsoever for complacency.
I have never seen myself as a big talent or like a famous athlete, to be honest. I am the same happy-go-lucky kid as I always was. If I win I celebrate, if I don’t I focus on what’s next.Sift Kaur Samra
And by “what’s next,” she does not indicate a metaphorical momentous occasion like the Olympics, but merely the next event, whatever it’s scale might be.
I just go with the flow. My only focus is always on the next event coming up, so now, it is on the Olympics. After this, I will shift my attention to whatever event there is next. My motto is – Jab tak rifle chalti hai, tab tak chala lo (Fire the rifle till it works).Sift Kaur Samra
A Note of Caution to the Parents
In a nation obsessed with success and multitasking, Sift Kaur Samra exemplifies an ideal paradigm, balancing the demands of both NEET and Olympic aspirations.
For Sift, it was not too difficult a task.
Cracking NEET was not too difficult, honestly. We are athletes, we are accustomed to working very hard. The only reason you have not seen athletes doing well in studies is because we don’t get the time to prepare.Sift Kaur Samra
‘Are you cognisant of possibly garnering dislike from kids, considering parents might start to use you as an example?” we asked her, jokingly.
Following a laugh, she cautioned parents against unrealistic expectations:
Before that happens, I want to clarify to the parents that it is indeed unrealistic to think that your child can both crack NEET and be at the Olympics. We need supportive colleges for that to happen. Mine was not, so I had to make a decision and I chose shooting. Had my college been supportive, I can confidently say that I would have pursued both a medical and a shooting career simultaneously. In India, you need your school and college’s support if you want to excel both in academics and sports. Neither my school nor my college was supportive, unfortunately.Sift Kaur Samra
We don’t know when the system will change. But Sift, certainly, won’t ever.
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